New York Bill Would Let the State Put People in Detention if Deemed a ‘Significant Threat to Public Health’ – By Billy Binion (Reason) / January 5 2021
The legislation gives the government wide latitude to detain those who might have a contagious disease.
New York lawmakers are mulling a bill that would allow the state to detain anyone carrying or suspected of carrying a contagious disease that makes them a “significant threat to public health.”
Democratic Assemblyman N. Nick Perry of New York’s 58th District spearheaded Bill A416, which holds that the government may “order the removal and/or detention of such a person or of a group of such persons” in a “medical facility or other appropriate facility or premises designated by the governor or his or her delegee.” A confirmed carrier would be released only after he or she is no longer contagious, and a suspected carrier could be set free only when the government proves that he or she “is not infected with or has not been exposed to such a disease.”
Those who may have been in contact with the alleged carriers may also be detained and released when they test negative for the malady in question, or if the suspected carrier with whom they interacted is deemed to be negative.
